Dispenser for plastic bags

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a plastic wall-mounted dispenser primarily for coreless rolled sheet material and in which the plastic material, typically polypropylene, from which the dispenser is made is somewhat yieldable under stress. The dispenser is mounted in cantilevered relationship to the wall and the weight of the dispenser and its contents and pressures exerted thereagainst by the act of dispensing sheet material therefrom causes stresses which tend to twist the dispenser and open the latches by which the base and cover sections of the dispenser are latched together. To rigidify the structure, the base portion of the dispenser is formed in the shape of a hollow truncated pyramid which gives it an inherently strong beam configuration. The cover portion may also be formed in part in the shape of a hollow truncated pyramid. The latches comprise two snap latches proximate the corners formed by intersecting walls of the truncated pyramidal hollow base section so that these corners rigidify the latch assembly and reinforce the latches against distortion and release under stresses imposed upon the dispenser.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sheet material dispensers made of plastic material and which in use restupon an underlying surface are known. The dispenser of the presentinvention, however, is intended to be mounted on an upright wall and incantilevered relation thereto. This imposes considerable stress on theplastic walls of the dispenser, particularly when the dispenser iscarrying the weight of its contents and the contents are dispensedthrough a dispensing slot, thus subjecting the dispenser to twistingforces which tend to distort the dispenser and impose stress upon thelatches which hold hollow base and cover portions of the dispensertogether. The stress imposed upon the dispenser by dispensing sheetmaterial is particularly acute when the sheet material comprises arelatively non-yieldable and non-tearable material such as plastic filmused in plastic bags, such as trash bags, garbage bags, food containingbags, etc. Such stress is further increased if the sheet material ispulled out of the dispenser with a sideways motion, thus tending totwist the dispenser.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, such a dispenser adapted forcantilevered mounting on a wall has a hollow base mounting portionformed in the shape of a truncated pyramid, to give it an inherentlystrong beam configuration. The side walls of the base portion intersectthe angled corners and the latches by which the base portion isreleasably interconnected to a swingable hollow main body or coverportion are proximate these corners. Accordingly, the corners reinforceand rigidify the latches so that the latches will not open inadvertentlyeven when the dispenser is subjected to considerable stress.

The side walls of the cover portion are also desirably formed in theshape of a truncated pyramid to give it an inherently strong beamconfiguration. In the disclosed embodiment, the cover portion is formedin the shape of a bent truncated pyramid to provide bends or breaks inthe side walls to further rigidify these walls.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear fromthe disclosure hereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wall-mounted dispenser embodying thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser with the front coverportion swung downwardly to an open position in which it acts as a tray.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross section taken through a mounted dispenserembodying the invention.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross section taken along the line 4--4 of FIG.1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a partially open dispenserand illustrating the relationship between latch elements on the base andcover portions of the dispenser.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a dispenser embodying the invention anda table of dimensions related thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the invention, the physical embodimentsherein disclosed merely exemplify the invention which may be embodied inother specific structure. The scope of the invention is defined in theclaims appended hereto.

The dispenser 10 comprises two hollow portions or sections, a cover ormain body section 11 and a base or mounting section 12. The two sections11, 12 are pivotally connected one to the other on a hinge 13. The twosections 11, 12 are both fabricated of plastic material which desirablycomprises polypropylene. This plastic material is inherently resilientand somewhat yieldable and deformable under pressure. Hinge 13 is madeof the same material as the walls of the hollow sections 11, 12 andpermits the sections to swing, as shown in FIG. 2.

Although the dispenser will dispense many types of sheet material, it isprimarily intended to dispense sheet material arranged in a corelessroll as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,361 issued July 30, 1974. Thissheet material comprises a series of discrete plastic film bags whichare folded a number of times and then are overlapped in shingledrelation and then rolled into a coreless roll 14. In use, the leadingend 15 of the outermost plastic bag of roll 14 will project through adispensing slot 16 in the cover section 11 of the dispenser, as shown inFIG. 1 herein. The act of dispensing one bag will draw the leading endof the next succeeding bag in the roll 14 to the position shown in FIG.1 in readiness for the next dispensing operation.

An important feature of the invention relates to the shape of the hollowdispenser cover and base sections 11, 12. Unlike dispensers which simplyrest upon an underlying support surface, the dispenser of the presentinvention is intended to be mounted in cantilevered relationship to anupright wall 17. Accordingly, the weight of the dispenser and itscontents must be supported by the base section 12 which must be strongenough to resist the leverage applied thereto by the weight of the coversection 11 and the weight of the roll 14 of sheet material carriedthereby. Moreover, the cover and base sections 11, 12 are subjected toconsiderable additional stress because the person pulling on the end 15of the sheet material may not pull directly outwardly from thedispensing slot 16, but may pull sideways, thus to introduce racking ortwisting stresses on the dispenser. Because of its inherently resilientand yieldable characteristics, the walls of the dispenser will tend totwist and distort and release the latches 18 by which the cover section11 is latched to the base section 12.

In accordance with the present invention, the base section 12 is givenan inherently strong beam configuration by making it in the shape of atruncated pyramid. The base secton 12 comprises a relatively thick basepanel 21 by which the dispenser is mounted on wall 17 through fasteningmeans, such as the screws 22. Base panel 21 is provided with countersunkrecesses 23 to recess therein the heads 24 of the screws 22.

Side walls of the base section 12 comprise side panels 25 and end panels16 which intersect at angled corners 27. The side panels 25 and endpanels 26 are disposed at obtuse angles to the back panel 21 in order toproduce the truncated pyramidal shape of dispenser sections 12.

Cover section 11 which comprises the main body portion is also desirablyin the shape of a truncated pyramid. In the disclosed embodiment, theshape is that of a bent truncated pyramid. The top of the pyramidcomprises a front dispenser panel 28 in which the dispensing slot 16 isdisposed. The sides and ends of the bent truncated pyramid cover section11 comprise end panals 31, 35 intersecting at bend or corner 33 and sidepanels 32, 36 intersecting at bend or corner 34. The end and side panels32, 35 are disposed at oblique angles to the front dispenser slot panel28. The bends 33, 34 between the panels 31, 35 and 32,36 function asbreaks, bends or ridges to give the cover section 11 an inherentlystrong beam configuration. The end panels 31, 35 also intersect the sidepanels 32, 36 at corners 37, 38 in an inherently strong configuration.

When the cover section 11 is closed against the base section 12, asillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the edges of the side panels 25 and edgepanels 26 on the base section 12 mate with the edges of the side panels36 and the end panels 35 of the cover section 11. As best shown in FIG.4, the respective edges of the mating panels are shaped to provide aninterlock and a good seal between the mating parts. The outermost edgesof panels 25, 26 of base section 12 are formed as shown in FIG. 4 with alip 40 received within a groove 41 formed in the outer edges of thepanels 35, 36 of the cover section 11. Groove 41 is formed by theintersection of lip 42 and lip 43 provided on the outermost edges ofsaid panels 35, 36, as best shown in FIG. 4. Accordingly, when thedispenser is closed, the interengagement of lip 40 with the groove 41registers the base and cover sections together and provides lateralstability to the over-all structure.

As best shown in FIG. 5, the tongue and groove interlock between themating edges of the panels of the cover section 11 and base section 12of the dispenser are interrupted on the side of the dispenser oppositethe hinge 13 where latch means 18 are provided. It has been found that asingle latch near the center of the longitudinal extent of the dispenseris not adequate to hold the dispenser sections together during use andduring the stresses that are imposed thereupon. This is because thecenter of the longitudinal extent of the dispenser sections is subjectto the yieldability of the plastic material of the wall panels and willbe deformed out of interlocking connection under such stresses.Accordingly, an important part of the present invention is to disposethe latch assemblies 18 proximate the corners 27 of the base section 12.These corners are made quite rigid because of the angle of intersectionof the end panels 26 with the side panels 25.

The latches 18 comprise snap couplings or latches which will engage whenthe plastic material thereof will be deformed under closing pressure andwhich will release under opening pressure because of the yieldability ofthe plastic material. However, considerable force must be applied bothto latch and unlatch the latches 18 and the pressure necessary forlatching and unlatching exceeds the forces exerted upon the latchesduring normal use of the dispenser, even when the plastic bags 15 arepulled sideways in the course of dispensing them through slot 16.

The latch means or assembly 18 comprises an overhanging jaw 44 near bothends of panel 25 and proximate the corners 27. Jaw 44 is provided withan elongated tooth 46. The edge of panel 36 of cover section 11 has acorresponding elongated tooth 45. In the course of closing thedispenser, tooth 46 will ratchet or ride over the tooth 45 and then snapback to interlock in overlapped relation, as shown in FIG. 3.

Panel 25 also has a pair of jaw tangs 47 which engage the opposite sideof panel 36 from tooth 45, thus to hold the toothed edge of the panel 36securely between the jaws formed by jaw 44 and tangs 47 on the panel 25of the base section 12. When the dispenser is opened for refillingpurposes, sufficient pressure has to be applied to cause jaws 44, 47 toyield apart as the tooth 45 on panel 36 exerts outward pressure on thetooth 46 of the jaw 44.

The latch means or assembly 18 is desirably close enough to the corners27 of the base section 12 to provide a stable base support fromwall-mounted panel 21 for the latch assembly 18 so that the normalstresses and pressures exerted while the dispenser is in use will notdistort the latch parts and cause unwanted opening of the dispenser. Atthe same time, the latch means or assembly 18 should be far enough fromthe corner 27 so that enough yieldability in the intervening dispenserwall is retained to enable the user to conveniently open the latch. Theprecise location of the latches involves a compromise between therequirements for utilizing the yieldability of the wall material topermit release of the latch when wanted, but to stabilize the latchsufficiently to prevent unwanted opening of the latch during use of thedispenser. The precise location of the latches will depend to someextent upon the size of the dispenser which, in turn, is dictated by thesize of the bags to be dispensed therein. The coreless bag roll 14varies in axial length, depending upon bag size. Accordingly, althoughthere may be some variation in the precise locations of the snap latches18, depending upon the over-all size of the dispenser, it is generallytrue that they are rather widely spaced one from the other and areproximate but somewhat spaced from the corners 27.

Another factor enhancing dispenser rigidity in the vicinity of the latchmeans 18 is the stiffening effect of the longitudinal bends or breaks 34in the cover section 11. These bends 34 reinforce the wall panel 36 uponwhich latch tooth 45 is mounted.

Still another factor enhancing dispenser rigidity in the vicinity of thelatch means 18 is the asymmetric relation of the latch means 18 withrespect to the front panel 28 and rear panel 21 of the dispenser. Thecenterline of the dispenser with respect to the front panel 28 and rearpanel 21 is indicated in FIG. 3 at 52. Latch means 18, hinge 13 and themating edges of the cover section 11 and base section 12 are disposed ina plane offset toward the base panel 21 from centerline 52. Accordingly,the latch means 18 is on a shorter moment arm from the base panel 21than it would be if it were closer to the centerline 52. This helps thelatches resist unwanted opening pressure caused by stresses imposed onthe cantilevered dispenser, especially those caused by the user pullingthe bags out of the dispenser slot with a sideways component ofpressure.

The dispenser slot 16 is desirably formed in the shape of a cross. Itslongitudinal slot 50 is not quite as long as the front face 28 of thedispenser so that the bag end 15 can be threaded therethrough eventhough the bag has to be pinched longitudinally in order to fit throughthe slot 50. In the course of initial threading of the sheet materialthrough dispensing opening 16 or to facilitate the user's access to theleading edge of a bag which is still within the dispenser, lateral slot51 of dispensing opening 16 is provided. Both slots 50, 51 provide goodthumb and finger access to the interior of the dispenser when the user'shand is oriented either horizontally or vertically with respect thereto.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the roll 14 is initially placedwithin the dispenser, it will occupy almost the entire spacetherewithin. Inasmuch as the roll 14 is circular in cross section, itwill fit particularly compactly within the dispenser because of theangled wall panels 25, 32 thereof. Full roll 14 will rest on the bottompanel 36 of the cover section 11 of the dispenser as shown in FIG. 3.Cover section 11 is made relatively deep and base section 12 is maderelatively shallow so that the hinge 13 and latches 18 are closer tobase panel 21 than to cover panel 28. This relationship offsets both thehinge 13 and the latches 18 away from the maximum diameter of a fullroll 14 and locates the tangs 47 of the latches 18 out of range of afull roll 14. Accordingly, the possibility of the roll snagging on thetangs is reduced to a minimum by this offset location of the tangs.

The end 15 of the sheet material of the roll 14 may lead off of the topof the roll or off of its bottom, this being generally immaterial to themanner in which the dispenser is used. In FIG. 3, the end 15 is showncoming off the top of a mostly depleted roll 53. Note that for such adepleted roll 53, the side wall panel 25 of base section 12, which islowermost in this figure, acts as a ramp or incline down which thepartially depleted roll 53 will roll to keep the outermost layer ofsheet material on the roll from contact with the back panel 21 and anyprotruding portions of the screw heads 24 which might otherwise tend tosnag the outer surface of the roll 53.

When mounted, the hinge 13 is desirably placed at the bottom of thedispenser and the latches 18 at the top. Accordingly, when the coversection 11 is opened, as shown in FIG. 2, the cover section 11 willfunction as a tray in which the roll 14 may easily be placed so as toavoid inadvertent dropping of the roll 14 on the floor.

FIG. 6 and the table adjacent thereto illustrates certain dimensionalrelationships which have been found to be desirable in certain typicaldispensers embodying the invention. The ranges indicated in the tablewill yield good results and the ranges can be extended for lessdesirable results. Other dispensers, larger and smaller than thosementioned in the table may, have somewhat different ranges, dependingupon circumstances.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sheet material dispenser adapted to be mountedon an upright wall and having a mounting base section and a coversection, a hinge interconnecting said sections so that the cover sectionmay be swung away from the base section to load sheet materialthereinto, latch means for latching the two sections together when thecover section is swung closed, said cover section being supported by thebase section in cantilevered relation to said upright wall to impose theweight of the loaded dispenser and pressures developed by dispensingsheet material from the dispenser on the base section, said sectionscomprising plastic material which is yieldable under stress, said basesection having a flat base panel adapted to be fastened to the uprightwall and side and end panels extending at obtuse angles from the basepanel and intersecting one another to form angled corners and toconstitute the base section as a truncated pyramid enclosing a hollowspace and having inherently strong beam configurations to withstand thepressures exerted thereon without sufficient change of shape to releasethe latch means when the dispenser is mounted, loaded and is use, saidside panels having edges spaced from the base panel, said hinge beingdisposed on the edge of one side panel and the latch means beingdisposed on the edge of the other side panel whereby to space the hingeand latch means from said upright wall, said latch means comprising twosnap latches proximate the corners formed by the intersecting side andend panels of the base section.
 2. The dispenser of claim 1 in which thesheet material comprises a coreless roll, the bottom panel of the basesection of a mounted dispenser constituting an inclined ramp urging adiminished roll forwardly away from contact with the flat base panel. 3.The dispenser of claim 1 in which the cover section is in the shape of atruncated bent pyramid.
 4. The dispenser of claim 1 in which said coversection has a flat panel with a dispensing slot formed therein and hasside and end panels extending at obtuse angles from the base panel andintersecting one another to form angled corners.
 5. The dispenser ofclaim 4 in which the side panels of the cover section have longitudinalangle bends to stiffen the cover section.
 6. A sheet material dispenseradapted to be mounted on an upright wall and having a mounting basesection and a cover section, a hinge interconnecting said sections sothat the cover section may be swung away from the base section to loadsheet material thereinto, latch means for latching the two sectionstogether when the cover section is swung closed, said cover sectionbeing supported by the base section in cantilevered relation to saidupright wall to impose the weight of the loaded dispenser and pressuresdeveloped by dispensing sheet material from the dispenser on the basesection, said sections comprising plastic material which is yieldableunder stress, said base section having a flat base panel adapted to befastened to the upright wall and side and end panels extending at obtuseangles from the base panel and intersecting one another to form angledcorners and to constitute the base section as a truncated pyramidenclosing a hollow space and having inherently strong beamconfigurations to withstand the pressures exerted thereon withoutsufficient change of shape to release the latch means when the dispenseris mounted, loaded and in use, the hinge being disposed at one side ofthe dispenser and the latch means comprising two snap latches located atthe other side of the dispenser and proximate the corners formed by theintersecting side and end panels of the base section, the hinge beingdisposed at the bottom of the wall-mounted dispenser and the latchesbeing disposed at the top of the wall-mounted dispenser whereby thecover section will swing downwardly about the hinge to form a tray toreceive and support sheet material in the course of loading thedispenser.
 7. The dispenser of claim 6 in which said snap latchescomprise jaw means formed on the edge of a side panel of the basesection which is uppermost when the dispenser is wall mounted, saidcover section having a panel with an edge having a tooth embraced bysaid jaw means when the dispenser is closed.
 8. A sheet materialdispenser adapted to be mounted on an upright wall and having a mountingbase section and a cover section, a hinge interconnecting said sectionsso that the cover section may be swung away from the base section toload sheet material thereinto, latch means for latching the two sectionstogether when the cover section is swung closed, said cover sectionbeing supported by the base section in cantilevered relation to saidupright wall to impose the weight of the loaded dispenser and pressuresdeveloped by dispensing sheet material from the dispenser on the basesection, said sections comprising plastic material which is yieldableunder stress, said base section having a flat base panel adapted to befastened to the upright wall and side and end panels extending at obtuseangles from the base panel and intersecting one another to form angledcorners and to constitute the base section as a truncated pyramidenclosing a hollow space and having inherently strong beamconfigurations to withstand the pressures exerted thereon withoutsufficient change of shape to release the latch means when the dispenseris mounted, loaded and in use, said cover section comprising a frontpanel having a dispensing slot and side and end panels extending fromthe base panel to enclose a hollow space therebetween, the hollow spacewithin the cover section being larger than the hollow space within thebase section and the hinge and latches being disposed asymmetrically tothe respective base panels of the said base section and cover sectionand closer to the base panel of the base section than to the front panelof the cover section, said latch means comprising jaw means includingtangs on the inside edge of the side panel of the base section which isuppermost when the dispenser is mounted and out of contact with a fullroll of sheet material by reason of the asymmetric location of thelatches.